JB's Miscellaneous Ramblings

I'm remembering a passover chicken soup you made lo those many years ago, and wondering what a girl has to do to get some more of that? It was SO yummy!

Step one: be in the Boston area around the time of 1st or 2nd seder.
Step 2: make sure I know about Step 1.

I can post recipes, such as they are. (The matzah balls are vital for getting the soup to taste right.) (If memories are working again, look for 'passover'. I may even have tagged some of my past soup posts. :)

that was fun, let's do it again!
(This is (I presume) the same anonymous questioner as last time)

• - how sexual a being are you? (1-10, where 1 is "what is this sex you speak of?" and 10 is "bring it on bay-bee!" if your scale goes to 11, feel free to say so.)
  
  Mentally, it varies between... 3-9? Depression took a toll for a while, I've been able to tune it out at times when it's not been available, but then there was the 'breasts!' posts of a couple of years ago. In general, I think of myself around a 7.
  Physically, I've been running below my youthful peak for a couple of years now. This kinda distresses me.
  (AKA: The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weaker than I think it should be.)
  
  
• - if you were on a cross-country flight (call it 4+ hours), what music would you bring or prefer to be listening to?
  
  Hm. It probably varies depending on what mood I'm in when I'm packing. These days, I've been prone to making a random mix cd (burning 700MB of iTunes Party Shuffle picks, or similar) for trips.
  
  That said, I'm listening to a lot of Quarkspace recently, and I always LOVE (The) Oyster( )band.
  
  
• - tell me about something you consistently forget or don't understand at the crucial moment of needing it.
  
  I'll forget nearly anything unless I've worked myself in to a routine of NOT forgetting this particular thing. I've packed multi-part lunches and left them behind; I've put out books for trips and then had then right where I put them when I get back, and so on.
  
  Things I don't understand? That's much harder. There are many, but which ones I ... forget to understand? ... I'm not so sure.
  
  
• - would you ever consider taking up a physically-demanding hobby? (think, rock-climbing, silks, taiko drumming)
  
  I've certainly considered it. I tried silks and liked it, but I needed a great deal more base strength before it would be practical or as fun as it should be.
  I keep thinking of doing taiko... Need to figure out times/availability.
  ... I need more physical demands in my life, really. Luckily, bike season's almost here, to get a bit more of it in. (Yeah, yeah, dilletante, I know.)
  
  
• - are you seduceable? what qualities in other people make you want to seduce them?
  
  Me? Hell yeah. Quite possibly too easily - at least historically.
  Others? It's an attitude thing, mostly. Unfortunately, I think it would take much much more introspection to really figure out WHAT the attitude is, though. There IS a physical component, too, but the attitude (or maybe it's a range of them... Hm.) is vital.
  
  

Presuming the appropriate permissions - would you do a scene with me? Even that it would be my first?

Yes.

Do you believe in dopplegangers?

Not really. I do believe that the same attitudes/opinions/style will generate in different people, but I've yet to meet (oops. Posted without finishing this sentence... Edit: a real duplicate of me. spiritual sibling, yeah, dupe, no.

(Hm. Ok. I was using a definition more like 'duplicate','copy','mirror image' (in the Patty Duke Show way, not the Star Trek way). The one given at http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/monsters/Html/Doppelga.htm is different, though:
Meaning "double walker" a doppelganger is a shadow-self that accompanies every human. Only the owner of a doppelganger can see it, otherwise it is invisible to human eyes. Dogs and cats have been known to see doppelgangers. Providing sympathetic company, a doppelganger almost always stands behind a person, and they cast no reflection in a mirror. They are prepared to listen and give advice to humans, either implanting ideas in their heads, or a sort of osmosis. It is said to be bad luck if it is seen, and rarely a doppelganger will make itself visible to friends or family, often causing great confusion. Doppelgangers can be mischievous and malicious.

My head's certainly provided this function for me, though not always? usually? :)

-you have a lot of friends (both on and off LJ) -- how do you choose to spend time with the ones you see a lot? (or do you see any of them frequently?))

I've had a hard time over the past years picking things to do out of a list of choices. Thus, I mostly see people when someone else has made the plans, or when there's only one thing to do.

This is FAR from ideal. I'd love to fix it.

-just how into BDSM are you, anyway?

Fairly. It's not _mandatory_ for a satisfying relationship, but it's pretty present in my thoughts a lot of the time.

-what is one interesting thing you're planning to do in the next month?

Hm. I have no idea.

-how much do you actually like concerts? do you like the whole scene (crowds, hearing music with other people, huge amplifiers, etc.), or do you go mainly to see/hear the people performing live?

I really like them. Live music can be a transcendent experience. It can also just be a lot of fun. I love the energy of a psyched performer with a good crowd. That, of course, demands an audience. That said, often the rest of the audience gets on my nerves for failing to appreciate the music at hand. As well, the people running the sound boards too often feel that, if it's not at 11, it's not any good. This is of course bullshit. If I ever open a venue that has live music, I think I'll call it "It goes to 5". :)

-where might one go to see a JB that isn't intimately involved with squaredancing? :)

A party - most likely when there's only one on that date. A pre-arranged meeting place/time. At home, in front of a least 2 different input sources.

-have you ever taken a myers-briggs test? do you believe that such things have any merit whatsoever?

I have. The real, copyrighted, original one, even. Unfortunately, I don't remember what I got and the results are at home. I'll update this later. I do think there's some value in them, especially in terms of interactions with others.

-what are the top three things you care most about (things, not people! :)?

Hurm. Hard to say. I spend most of my time with music, dancing, reading. I care about civil rights, the environment and such, but rarely do anything much about it. This is a failing of mine.

(This set of questions was actually anonymous. None of the rest were.)
(Ask questions here.)

-How has your definition, idea, and ideal of "community" changed over the past decade or two?

[Just curious. I'm interested in the various ideas of "community" that different people have; and I've known you for a long time; and "community," whatever that means, seems to be very important to you.]

I've discovered it's much harder to maintain a real community than I once found it to be. Part of this is the splintering functions of separating 'grown-up' interests, part is my growing (hopefully maxed-out?) introverted streak, part is a shrinking ability to deal with poor socialization (Not mine, of course. ;).

That said, I still think it's Very Very important and I still truly cherish what we have. I still look at my community like a 'chosen (extended) family', but I more realize that you can't (easily, at least) choose EVERYONE in the group and that the Geek Social Fallacies make my community more like a natural family than I once realized.

(Ask questions here.)

Can we have an affair?

Licit (maybe. Distance is a significant problem, of course) or Illicit (no)?

(Ask questions here.)

You look a bit shaggy lately. Why not go for a trim?

Hair? I don't trust anyone to do the right thing.

Beard? I keep forgetting to deal. :)

(Ask questions here.)

(a) when can we have dinner together?
Next week? This weekend?

(b) what are your thoughts on getting more kitties?
Not yet, but eventually. I've had pets my whole life, and had to deal with their deaths that whole time, too, but this one was particularly hard.

(c) what is one thing you don't have in your life that you would really, really like to have?
More self-knowledge, and the ability to work with the things I know in a productive fashion.
(Anyone know a good therapist in the East Somerville/Charlestown area? Poly/Scene-friendly a must, of course.)

(Ask questions here.)

my question is "what irrational belief that you'd hate to see the light of day is embedded in your psyche"

eg: "the internet is sentient and talking to friendly aliens"

Hm. Hard one. (Including hard to figure out if you're talking about "I'm scared this is true" or "I know this isn't true, but gods help us if it is...")

I'll go with "Robert Anton Wilson is right about everything." and put it in the 2nd category.

(Ask questions here)

One: know of any good hypnotic drum music (with a variety of types of drums)

My only suggestion would be Robin "Adnan" Anders

Two: There's this one piece of music that beings with a kind of gentle whooshing, maybe
a little electronic in character, it builds in intensity, and then there are these sweeping
(words fail me) booms. I don't know if it's Vangelis or not but I do know that it was used
for the 3-2-1 contact segments when they were exploring Antarctica.

Not a clue. Loyal readers?

Three: do you know of a good catalogue of tribal patterns and their meanings?

Nope. Sorry.

(Ask questions here)